Grain Update - Leash Loop

I knew right away that I wanted to do a leash loop on this board. With that said I have never seen one done and had actually only seen one on a board in person once. Luckily, Murphy clued us in as to what to do. But mostly we winged it. It came out really cool though.

Step one. Not pictured. Go to the drive through at Burger King and order something that comes with a straw. Places that sell milk shakes have the best straws as they are huge. Cut the straw to fit the width of the section you are spanning. I cut the sides at an angle which worked well for me.

Sand with a little 100 grit.

Take your fin rope and put in through the straw and cut to size. You need enough out the sides so that you can fan it out like a bow tie and attach to the deck.

The trick to this is that the straw is there to hold shape and resin. To get this to work you saturate the fin rope by holding on to one side and sliding the rope to the one end of the straw, wetting with sanding resin and then sliding back through the straw. Repeat until the rope is saturated. Next, fan the rope strands out like a bow tie and press to the deck.

After the resin is set, use a grinder, sandpaper and a razor blade to remove the straw and grind down any excess.  We ended up with a bubble so we added a bit more resin and then grinded.

Sand...

Sand some more...

Don't forget to get under the bridge...

Wala. Leash loop!

All and all, easy and fun. Try it on your next board.

Yet again Kipp was a huge help and my resin guru. Many thanks for helping AGAIN!

For My Good Friend Kenny Mac

My friend and long time Grandview local Ken MacDonald has been battling cancer for the last year and a half. He has had his ups and downs but is still fighting. I got to hang out with him last week and it was really good to see Ken up and around. After my visit he sent this shot to me from a few years back when he was in the water every day and was stronger then ever. It made me remember my days of hanging out with him in the water and all the good rights he got. Here's to those days my friend. I'll never forget them.

If you know Ken or not, make sure before you go to bed that you think about him and his health and wish him well to beat this thing. I hope to get him back in the water soon.

Reminder - Grain Raffle Tonight - Nice little video on it.

Tonight is the raffle of the Grain board. The guys at Grain put this little video together with Jeff Martin the builder talking about why he built the board. Check it out.

Logan Foster

If you follow the Foster Surf Adventures blog you'll know that Logan made it to his first NSSA final. I'm so stoked for him and his brother Lucas who I've known since birth and are turing out to be great surfers. They have both blown me away at there abilities. Way to go Logan!!!

See the full post here .

Share Day - A Few Shots From Dean's Latest Trip

Dean  told me he was off on another surf trip and so I asked for him to bring me back a little something to share. He delivered with some great little shots of his friends, Pat Mulhern (reg foot) and Golden (goofy foot). He wouldn't tell where they went. The water is so clear it looks like an Indo trip but the full suits aren't supporting that. Looks amazing where ever it is.

Secret Stash of Keels

I went rummaging through my photos this morning to find this shoot of a secret stash of what I think were Pavels. I went with Erik one day to see Roy Sanchez and we stumbled on this room. Both walls were like this. It was quite the sight. I think I stood there for a few minutes speechless. Seeing J.P.'s post of boards at Moonlight jared my memory of this shot. I hope you feel the same sense of excitement I felt that day. I really wanted to take one home with me.

Beer Wave - Studio Aiuto's Latest Project

Click on image to enlarge

Jamie and Tak over at Studio Aiuto sent me this project they have ben working on called Beer Wave. An 11 month experiment to accumulate beer bottles attempting to discover unknown beauty in what the majority deem as garbage. [over 110 lbs of "garbage" was recycled in the making of this project] The center image image is what they made. An amazing work of art out of bottles. Very cool guys!

Goodbye Russell Beemer - You'll Be Missed

Update: There will be a memorial service Saturday, Nov 7 at 3pm at Cardiff reef. 

I just found out that my friend and neighbor Russell Beemer suddenly passed this week. He was a good guy with a big heart. When Alia was born he made a huge effort to check in on us and to see how things were going. He was one of those guys who was always interested in what you were doing and always made an effort to wave. He was a lover of the water, Leucadia and Hawaii. A loving husband, vintage board collector and local businessman. The neighborhood will miss you Russell.

Above is an impromptu memorial for Russell. If you know him, stop by and pay your respects. I haven't heard of a service but will update as I find out.

Win a Grain 5'4" Waka Fish for $10

Here is a really cool chance to win the same board we are building but as a 5'4". See bellow for details. It is for a really good cause. Mick Waters, Dave Rastovich and Johnny Abegg got involved as well and they filmed Dave and Johnny riding it and Dave signed the board.

Take a moment to read about why this board is being raffled. (See story here) It is very touching and very amazing how all this came together.

The guys at Grain, Mick, Dave, Johnny, even myself have put some serious energy into this project. The crew at Corduroy Surf Boutique is holding the event on Nov 11 and there is a huge list of folks that all have been instrumental in putting this on.

A fundraising partnership has formed between Grain Surfboards, Corduroy Boutique & Gallery, Stoked Mentoring and the family of  Jordan Kelly to raise funds benefitting at-risk youth.  On the other side of the planet, surfers Dave Rastovich and Johnny Abegg teamed up in Australia with filmmaker Mick Waters to lend their support to the effort.

Most recently, Grain Surfboards donated a 5’4” Lis-style wood fish made from cedar and burled walnut to be raffled for the Jordan Kelly Surf School Fund at Stoked. Rasta and Abegg surfed the board “down under” where they were filmed by Waters for the upcoming film “Little Black Wheels” to be released this winter.  The board is personally signed by Rasta himself.

The surfboard, valued at $2,000, will be awarded during a come-one, come-all event to be held at Corduroy Surf Boutique in Portland, Maine on November 11.  Raffle tickets are $10 at www.grainsurfboards.com/raffle  .   (Winner is responsible for shipping the board, but we'll pack it!)

Shortly after his 21st birthday last year, Jordan Kelly died in a car accident on Thanksgiving night after a day of surfing, family and friends. He had a love of skating, surfing and woodworking and was drawn to the rootsy, DIY ethos of the wood surfboard builders at Grain Surfboards. Stoked Mentoring is a non profit action sports organization for at-risk youth with the mission of developing successful teens with opportunity, knowledge, experience, and determination through the use of action sports, mentoring and coaching. In Jordan’s memory, Grain, Jordan’s family and Stoked are planning surfboard-building classes for kids served by Stoked Mentoring. Special thanks to Corduroy Boutique & Gallery who, as a “combined lifestyle boutique and social scene”, tied everyone together and made it possible to establish the fund.



Linkage
Tix: www.grainsurfboards.com
Drawing info: www.surfskateartlove.blogspot.com
Jordan Kelly pages:
www.facebook.com
 www.grainsurfboards.com/board-stories/jordan-kelly-1987-2008
 www.grainsurfboards.com/board-stories/jordan-kellys-widening-circle
Partners:
www.grainsurfboards.com
 http://www.stoked.org
www.CorduroyBoutique.com 

Erik's Pumpkin

Every year at SRF they do a pumpkin carving night. The best ones get displayed in downtown Encinitas for all the kids to see. Erik showed up and carved this one in 45 mins on a whim and they liked it so much they displayed it. Really cool.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I remembered seeing this website one year and thought it was fun. You can make your own pumpkin here .

I Want To Be Dean When I Grow Up

If you've surfed Grandview in the last 30 years you've seen Dean Rich in the water. Dean is one of those locals who has figured life out and can clock no less then 300 plus sessions a year. Most likely a lot more. He is one of those guys who knows what the swell is doing, what spots are breaking and disappears for weeks returning with just a smile on his face from an adventure like the above.  All while starting and managing businesses along the way. 

Dean's latest business venture has impacted my life for sure. I am not rich from it but my feet are happy. A couple of years ago he started importing these Souls Australian made flip flops that have these little acupressure bumps on them that massage your feet.  He hooked me up with a pair and I have had a hard time going back to my old flops ever since. Thanks Dean for keeping my feet happy and inspiring me and others with the way you figured out life! 

I'm not sure who took the surf shots but thanks for letting me use them!

Local Artist Micaiah Hardison

When I first moved to Leucadia in 96' my friend lived on Neptune across the street from an 18 year old kid that was an amazing artist. His name was Micaiah Hardison and he grew up on the bluff and in the water of Leucadia. He surfed and body boarded and was good at it all. He was also a completely self taught artist. I was always impressed by him. I bought my first painting from him in 99'. Since then acquired a few more. My favorite two are the images above. Pipe from the water (3.25' x 4.25') and an image of Grandview from Seabluff (4' x 8'). He is still painting today. Check lout his site www.micaiah.net

Way To Go David

David doesn't like to toot his own horn. In fact he's very low key about his shots. He mostly does it just to bring a smile to his friend's faces.  Me on the other hand, I'm stoked for him when he gets his shots into the mainstream so I don't mind telling everyone.  

So if you happen to see Surfline's feature on the west coast double swell you will see the shot above. During that swell he spent a few hours posted up on the bluff shooting his friends for fun. One of them just happen to get a great shot so he sent it off to Surfline not expecting much. To his surprise he got a call letting him know he made it in. Congrats David and Jon! Great shot and surfing.

Inspired

16 year old John Cappetta sent in this picture he drew of Erik. He saw this photo on the site, got inspired and sent this in. Way to go, John. Keep up the drawing!

Were You Out This Day?

Dec 26, 2001, were you out that day? I have had these pictures on my various computers for 8 years now. They were taken by my friend's boy friend Mark. I borrowed her camera one day and downloaded these by mistake. I just came across them and was stoked I still had them. I remember that swell well. These were shot on the roof of their Neptune house. There is some serious size for out front and more surprisingly it was ridable. Most huge swells close out.

Grain Update - Hot Coat and Sanding

After having to take a break for a week to due to sick kids, we were back at it with the Grain. This time the hot coat was on our list of items to tackle.

Once again, Kipp did his thing and guided us through this process.

Kipp leveled.

I taped.

I poured.

Kipp heated the resin so that the bubbles would come out.

A trick that all should know. I got the rookie tip that hot coat resin was just laminate resin with a surfacing agent added.  You can buy it premixed (more expensive) or you can buy the additive and add it to your left over laminating resin (less expensive). Thanks to the guys at Encinitas Surfboards for hooking me up with that piece of knowledge.

The board was prepped and ready to go.

We didn't have a shooter so again, the hot coat was committed to memory. It was VERY quick. I let Kipp do the deck to watch how it was done. The resin kicked REALLY fast. It was a good choice.

Came out great. No problems.

Next up was pulling the tape.

A lot of the glassing processes is redundant. You do a lot of the same processes over again.

The bottom went smother yet and was done in no time. I set out to do the bottom myself but Kipp ended up diving in at the end as the resin yet again set really quick. We need to work on refining our catalyst ratio.

More tape pulling.

Done!

She is a beaut or what?

Now it's time to sand.

Sort of made me nervous to take a power sander to her.

I got the hang of it pretty quick.

Lots of dust. You sand and then you hunt for "Shinnies" as Kipp puts it. Anything shinny hasn't met the sander yet. 

It took a bit to get it done.

After the deck was sanded we cleaned her up to see how she looked.

Then we started on the rails. You have to scrape the bead that is left from the bottom and top hot coats overlapping.

A razor works really good for this.

It took some work to do but it was fun and really worth it.  More to do but looking forward to it.

Before this project I took myself for a "Likes to surf surfboards" guy over a "Likes to build surfboards" guy but I have to admit after taking a week off I really started to miss it. I'm going to have to find another project to do when I'm done. I'm thinking some fins. That would be cool.

Thanks to Kipp for taking some really great photos as well as telling me what to do!